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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. shower — rain
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — a phone
  7. last — to go on
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. last — final
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. prune — to trim
  16. court — of law
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. ground — a position
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. court — of a king
  21. last — finally
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. shower — to wash

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com